A Detailed Look at the Preschool 2 & 3 Year Old Lesson Plans

Got three year olds?  How about two year olds?

A handful of years ago I jumped back into classroom setting. I was teaching young children in my home and was ready for a switch.  I had mainly worked with pre-k and first graders, but this jump back in was working with ten three year olds.  While the change from pre-k to three year olds doesn't sound like much, if you've ever done both, you know there are some pretty big differences to take into account!

Being in a play-based setting I felt the need to help my littlest students learn important social skills, academic skills and build attention to task - all while loving the open-ended environment of a play-based school setting.  This took a ton of balance.  It also took a lot of researching ideas, activities and making decisions on whether the activities were age-appropriate and worth the time.

I was finding myself spending lots of time looking for ideas and putting them together. I also found myself always behind!  I would barely get the week planned before feeling like another week was sneaking up on me and needed planning!  Ever felt that way?  It's not an easy feeling.

After my experience with those sweet little 3 year olds, I knew I wanted to share the ideas and activities that I had used (and more!). Because, lets face it - there isn't a ton of help for teachers of two and three year olds.

So, today I wanted to share with you all the details of one of my preschool 2 and 3 Year Old Lesson Plans!  That way you can see if these lesson could help you and therefore save you some time and sanity!

What's included....

 Let's start with some quick facts.  Two and Three Year Old Lesson Plans...

• are 1 week in duration.
• include 5 different songs.
• include 5 different whole group activities
• include 5 different small group activities
• include a read aloud list of theme-based books
• include theme-based center ideas

Now, let's dive a bit deeper.  Below is a picture of the actual lesson plans for you, the teacher:

The chart on the left is a Weekly Overview. Each day includes the Song, a spot for you to write the Read Aloud you will do and a summary of the whole group and small group lessons.  It works as a good birds-eye view.  See the 'Parts of the Lesson Plan' graphic in the picture above for more about these parts.

See the blue polka dots in the picture above?  That page is how the Center Ideas are laid out. For each center, an activity or idea is given (based on the theme) and includes a description of how to set up the activity and any materials needed. The centers with center ideas include: Fine Motor, Math, Drama, Science, Sensory, Art, Writing, Blocks and Literacy.

In the above picture is an example of a Whole Group Activity. This one is from the Pond Themed Lesson.  In the upper left hand corner is the lesson instructions. Instructions include materials needed, what you need to prepare and then how to implement the lesson.  This one is a Five Little Ducks Song with Props. The song itself is included, as well as the duck props. All you have to do is print and attach the ducks to sticks!  All Whole Group Activities include any printable materials needed.

Next up - Small Group Activities.  The photo above shows an activity from the Pumpkin theme. On the instruction page, there is a Whole Group Activity on the top half and a Small Group Activity on the bottom half.  For this specific Small Group Activity, students are provided with pumpkin spice scented paint (just sprinkle in pumpkin spice to orange paint) to paint their own pumpkin. A simple activity, but one that packs a big punch for two and three year olds!

Also included in each lesson plan set is 5 songs. One for each day of the week.  These are songs you sing aloud and include a tune, not songs on a CD player or You-Tube. The songs in the photo above are from the 'Names' lesson plan.  The songs were created to be short, easy to repeat and full of language fun!

So, as you can see, these lessons were created to be simple, easy to implement and fun!

For our youngest learners, play is the vehicle to most learning.  But, we also know the importance of working on attention to task, academic skills and group learning... so by adding one whole group activity, one small group activity and some engaging activities in centers we can provide a well-balanced day!

What themes are available?  There are 35! See them all here.  Or, check out the bundle!

1. It's School Time
2. All About Me
3. 5 Senses
4. Names
5. Healthy Me
6. Helpers
7. Apples
8. Farm
9. Autumn
10. Pumpkins
11. Thanksgiving
12. Food Groups
13. Baking
14. Gingerbread
15. Holiday
16. Winter
17. Polar Animals
18. Fairy Tales
19. Authors
20. Things that Go
21. Construction
22. Friendship
23. Bears
24. Pond
25. Frogs
26. Dinosaurs
27. More About Dinos
28. In the Kitchen
29. Pizza
30. Pets
31. Bugs
32. Spring Weather
33. Plants
34. Ocean
35. At the Beach

Which skills do lessons cover?

Well, honestly... too many to list here!  Grab the free Two & Three Year Old Pacing Guide for specifics!

Note: These lessons align with the Two Year Old Assessment and Three Year Old Assessment.

Have questions about these preschool 2 & 3 year old lesson plans?  Feel free to drop a comment below!